The mousepad is a topic that is often overlooked in conversations about gaming. We all know how important finding the right mouse & keyboard can be, but if you can also locate a good quality surface for your mouse, you will instantly notice improvements in precision, tracking and overall smoothness.
That said, I can find no better brand of mousepad for my first review than SteelSeries, as the first product they ever launched was in fact a mousepad. Today we are looking at the SteelSeries 9HD, the bigger brother of the 4HD (which is 10% smaller for those of you with limited desk/table space).
Over the years, I’ve used quite a few mousepads, from gaming grade right down to improvised things I slapped together on a moment's notice. With that in mind, this could be the first time I’ve ever fallen in love with a gaming product right away; this just looks and feels totally amazing.
First of all, this mousepad does not budge even an inch when in use; you could pretty much glue them to your hands and climb up a wall. Secondly, it’s very thin, meaning if you’ve got a small desk or sometimes tuck some of the mousepad under your keyboard (like me), you shouldn't have a problem.
Thirdly, I’ve been using this pad for about a month, for both work and gaming. With other pads, you would have seen the print or the surface itself starting to degrade and wear away due to the repeated rubbing/friction on the pad. The 9HD has none of those problems. (The included pictures were taken just today, in fact. You can clearly see how well the aesthetic has held up.)
Still, why would you need a good pad when a college book or some cheap one from Best Buy works just fine?
Well, the main reason is that a quality mousepad will truly help with your gaming, allowing the mouse to track and glide better while giving 100% precision and accuracy for any movements in the game. Additionally, higher quality pads tend to be bigger and sturdier, meaning you will never run out of pad when lining up those precision shots, and you shouldn’t have to replace it anytime soon. In fact, I'm guessing one of these pads could last you a decade or two.
Overall, SteelSeries 9HD has been an absolute pleasure to review, and I’m proud to give out my first 10/10. It's just that damn awesome!
Next week, we'll be covering some other products from SteelSeries, so stay tuned!
